I had several things on my sea day “to do” list on August 13th. It was the second sea day of our second cruise, this being the stretch between Norway and Iceland.  

We had benefit of an extra hour of sleep as we headed west. All the better for making up the sleep I missed listening to the Seattle Mariners’ last two innings in the middle of the night.  They won, Astros lost, Mariners moved into first place!

We crossed over from Holland America 3 Star to 4 Star Mariners and I had a message to go to guest services for our new key cards that show our new status and resulting benefits.  The biggest benefit is free laundry!

While there, I asked to exchange my remaining Euros to Icelandic Krone. We almost always use our credit cards but it is always nice to have some local currency for tips and incidentals. They didn’t have Icelandic Krone so I converted the Euros to US dollars. Seventy Euros were roughly $82 USD.  So far on this trip,  we have been in countries using Euros, British Pounds, Norwegian Krone and soon, Icelandic Krone.  The ship usually accommodates exchanging currency. 

I also canceled our shore excursion to the Medieval Town of Rye when we are in Dover again at the end of this cruise.  We learned that Dover has the oldest boat ever found. That sounded more interesting.

Our first activity was a Coffee Talk with Cruise Director Tjalling and Chief Engineer Peter.  They both speak English and Dutch so it was a bit of a dance getting all questions and answers in both languages for the audience.  

There were a lot of Dutch speaking passengers on this cruise.  All announcements were done in both languages and a few events were duplicated, one in each language.

Some new things we learned, or were confirmed, during the coffee talk:

They reluctantly confirmed that there was a helicopter medical evacuation over night.  People around the ship heard the sound in different ways.  We didn’t hear it at all, but had spoken to another who had.  Of course, they gave no details.    

The ship’s course tracking certainly showed that something had happened.

Later in the cruise, in an Ask the Captain session, we learned that the passenger involved had been able to rejoin the cruise in Reykjavik. The passenger, and his wife, thanked the captain for saving his life after he suffered a stroke.

Engineer Peter explained that cruise and cargo ships are attempting to halve the carbon footprint by 2030. Hydrogen fuel, batteries, or nuclear energy are the options.  Norwegian ferries are already using battery power.

However, ships are currently better than the average SUV when considered per person.  Airplanes are way worse.

Engineer Peter said that each port can stipulate the type of fuel allowed.  Mostly that involves Arctic or Antarctic regions and was not a factor with this cruise.

It takes 850 meters to bring Nieuw Statendam to a full stop.  Peter indicated that it would not be a comfortable stop with everything vibrating.

Randy asked what type of maintenance takes the most time and effort- the exterior or the machinery inside.  Peter said that the outside always requires the most maintenance against the salt water and sea air.  If they were not diligent, the ship would be covered in rust within six months.  

Whether it is Peter’s leadership, or the work of the crew, or a combination of both, this ship was in the best condition we’ve ever seen it.  These are our 5th and 6th cruises onboard Nieuw Statendam.

We were going to be around Iceland for the next five consecutive port days.

Given that, we had presentations in the theatre about Iceland in general and how city and farm Icelanders thrive and/or survive in the 24 hour sunshine and the 24 hour darkness. 

Another important item on the To Do List was to complete the Holland America ship survey for our previous cruise.  It is a big deal for crew if they are commended in those surveys so I have learned to keep a running list so I don’t forget anyone.  Positive mentions earn them time off (a VERY precious commodity) and help with promotions.

We were fortunate to walk by at the right time to get these seats with a sea view!  We were reading, scrolling, listening to podcasts etc. with a glass of wine. I was also researching why the Dutch people on this ship are SO DANG TALL!

I am used to almost everyone being taller than me and I don’t care.  However, on this cruise it was ridiculous!!  I was in line for a hot chocolate and could tell by language who was around me.  I was almost miniature!

Then we went to a Cocktail Chat with Cruise Director Tjalling, and magician Kolos.

Kolos got a degree in economics but wanted to be a magician.  He was just satisfying his parents with the economics degree. He is from Budapest Hungary and has been a working magician for 20 years.

He has been working week long gigs on cruise ships for 10 years and has also been on Penn & Teller in Las Vegas.

During the chat about economics, Tjalling mentioned getting a degree in engineering but not enjoying being a computer coder.    Afterwards, Randy took the opportunity to go talk with Tjalling about computer career stuff.  His retelling of the conversation was quite interesting. 

Tjalling may be the best cruise director we’ve ever had, but it isn’t his life goal to stay in this position.  (Notice his orange shoes later in the cruise on Orange Night!)

Without us changing seats, our entertainment changed to Vivace playing movie themes.  Life aboard ship is often awesome!

Maitr’D Elena, from Romania, sent us champagne during dinner to celebrate our new 4 Star Mariner Status.  So sweet!

We ended the day with one more music set.  This was “regional soloist Andy.” 

We weren’t sure if this was a random passenger with a flute or coordinated but it was fun.

This day just reaffirmed our love for Sea Days!

Next Up: Iceland!